A little everyday chit chat around the table...like we all used to do around my Grandmothers' tables when I was growing up. A little of this...a little of that...nothing too special...but as the years pass, all of it seems so. Come, sit at the Table, contribute, enjoy, stay as long as you want, leave when you need to, and return often!

Who's Who

April 28, 2017

The 91st recipe I made with the Eating with Ellie group is Mashed Sweet Potatoes with Orange Essence, and can be found in Ellie Krieger's book The Food You Crave, on page 267. The theme for the week was chosen by Gaye: Mash Ups. (In the photo: Everyday Roast Chicken (Whole30), spinach salad with tomatoes and compliant dressing (Whole30), orange sections, blackberries, and my Whole30 take on Ellie's Mashed Sweet Potatoes and Orange Essence.)

Ingredient list: sweet potatoes, buttermilk, orange juice, orange zest, nutmeg, light brown sugar, salt, and unsalted butter. I've been missing here for a bit as Margaret decided to do the Whole30 program in February and I figured I would keep her company, then Leslie joined in, and for the past two months I have fallen in love with the Whole30 program and not been wanting to do much off-roading at all. So my food blogging groups have taken a hit. When I choose a recipe to make for the blog, I make it as stated 99% of the time as I like to see what the chef/author intended, so what I write about is pretty much the way the writer of the recipe intended as I follow it so closely. I need to make a decision. I want to keep on with the Whole30 program and I also want to continue to be in a couple of my food blogging groups, particularly this one as I feel Ellie makes healthy and delicious food. So I have decided that I will try to make Ellie's recipes as compliant with the Whole30 program as I can. I hope Ellie is okay with that...I love cooking her food. These sweet potatoes are delicious...I left out the sugar, of course, but you really don't need to add sugar to sweet potatoes anyway as they are sweet naturally. I also left out the buttermilk and butter. Originally I left them out and had planned to sub coconut milk and ghee for those two ingredients but when I mixed it all up, I liked it all just wonderfully well without adding anything else. I think they would be a bit creamier in texture if they were added, but I thought the result was absolutely wonderful as it was. I will make these again, orange and sweet potato are definitely worth repeating often.

If you wonder how the others did this week, click hereto follow their post links. You can also find the recipe schedule there for the coming weeks. Next week's recipe theme was chosen by Peggy and is Cinco de Mayo Fiesta. Please come and join us at any time, just leave the link to your post that week so that week so we know where to find you.

Note: In our posts, we do not publish the recipes from Ellie Krieger's book as those belong to her, we like to honor that and encourage you to buy her books to get the recipes.

March 31, 2017

This month for Cookbook Countdown 15, I have chosen to use the cookbook The Whole30 by Melissa Hartwig and Dallas Hartwig. Margaret at Tea and Scones and I have been cooking buddies for 9 years, almost 10, we first met in the original Tuesdays with Dorie group. Through the years we have cooked in many groups together and have become great friends on the side. When Margaret is trying something new, it is fairly usual for me to tag along. Such was the case with her recent decision (February 22) to give The Whole30 program a go. Based on whole foods and making good nutritional choices, I figured 30 days of eating on that plan sounded like a fine idea (it also coincided with Lent and giving up sugar and such for Lent also seemed like a fine idea), and so it has been just that. Another cooking buddy from our TWD early days, Leslie, jumped onboard as she had done Whole30 and was more than happy to give it another go...Leslie had all kinds of advice and tips so we now think of her as our Whole30 guru, experience, as always, is invaluable. The book detailing the Whole30 comes with a large section of recipes to see you through the 30 days and since February 22, we have been cooking from it and enjoying the many delicious recipes. I have cooked far more than the ones I will give time to post here today. Each one has been a success and a revelation at how good food can be without added sugar and preservatives. We are now in the 10-12 day re-introduction phase of the program and for my book next month, I will use The Whole30 Cookbook to continue exploring recipes in this style of cooking and eating. The first recipe I am sharing is Spaghetti Squash with Ground Beef Tomato Sauce (pages 152, 294, and 324). Ingredient list: ground beef, spaghetti squash, olive oil, salt, pepper, onion, celery, carrot, garlic, crushed tomatoes, thyme, oregano, and bay leaf. This version of spaghetti and meat sauce is excellent. The spaghetti squash bakes up and can be shredded with two forks to form spaghetti-like strands. The topping is a typical meat sauce, minus any sugar or preservatives. I learned a lot reading labels, i.e. there is sugar in almost everything, trying to find products without it can be tricky...and they use any number of words for sugar. This is so good that I have made it more than once this past month, we both really liked it. Definitely worthy of a repeat. The second recipe I am sharing is Perfect Roast Barbecue Chicken with Steamed Broccoli and Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Herb Mayonnaise (pages 157, 296, 322, 179, 312). Ingredient list: chicken, coconut oil, clarified butter, onion, garlic, sweet potato, apple cider, tomato paste, apple cider vinegar, paprika, chipotle powder, broccoli, sweet potato, salt, pepper, and coconut butter. (The homemade mayonnaise is light olive oil, egg, mustard powder, salt, and lemon with mixed herbs, garlic, cayenne pepper, and lemon.) The chicken was roasted beautifully, the homemade barbecue sauce was interesting and delicious, just the right amount of tang and depth of flavor, and the broccoli and sweet potato rounded it all out nicely for a perfectly delightful meal. Definitely worthy of a repeat. The third recipe I am sharing is Perfect Grilled Burgers with Lettuce, Sliced Tomatoes, and Broccoli, Mushrooms, and Yellow Squash with Roasted Red Pepper Sauce (pages 153, 264, and 316). Ingredient list: ground beef, salt, pepper, mustard powder, garlic powder, lettuce, tomato, broccoli, coconut oil, onion, mushrooms, yellow squash, garlic, jar of roasted red peppers, olive oil, onion, garlic, parsley, capers, lemon, salt, and pepper. It was strange at first eating hamburgers without the cheese and bun, and I really missed those at the beginning, but by about the third week, I was thinking that the cheese and the bun were completely superfluous and I didn't really think in terms of needing those for hamburgers...which saves me from running to the store because I don't have any hamburger buns when I pull the ground beef out of the freezer of a morning. (And those who know me well know that the whole business of that bun getting soggy from the hamburger juice has never been my favorite thing.) The meat is perfectly delicious all on its own and the lettuce and tomato were there for freshness and a punch of extra vegetable goodness. The vegetable dish accompanying this was terrific. I have made it many time since. Margaret and Leslie will tell you that I make it just so I can eat the roasted red pepper sauce, and that is partially true as that roasted red pepper sauce is so good that I have been eating it on all kinds of things as well as using it as a vegetable dip. I routinely make it at the beginning of the week and by week's end, it's pretty much gone. This might be my most favorite thing ever. Definitely repeat worthy. The fourth (and last) recipe I am sharing is Butternut Squash Soup with Roasted Red Pepper Sauce (page 266 and 316). Ingredient list: butternut squash, onion, coconut oil, garlic, ginger, chicken broth, salt, and pepper (and the ingredients for the roasted red pepper sauce: jar of roasted red peppers, olive oil, onion, garlic, parsley, capers, lemon, salt, and pepper). Of course I was going to include a soup, I'm always all about the soup and this book has some nice soup recipes just bursting with flavor and freshness, this was one of my favorites so far. And, that Roasted Red Pepper Sauce was just sitting there begging to be used as an accompaniment to the soup...so good together. Definitely a repeat, I like soup in any weather, this will be a good one for my "go to list." So the month has come to a close, but not my love of this program. I learned so much (and I thought I knew quite a bit actually) about eating whole foods and looking for ingredients without added sugar and preservatives, etc. I feel better than I have in ages, all those little aches and pains that creep into one's joints at my age are completely gone. I feel much better not having sugar, I think sugar is not my friend despite the lure of its tastiness. I've been branching out more on buying organic produce, grass-fed and pastured meat, etc. and the recipes have been delicious, easy, and interesting. The three of us have decided to keep it going with occasional "off-road" excursions when we feel the need to have that bite of cupcake or twirl of pasta or mini-bagel, etc. To see what the others have cooked this month,click here. It is the policy on this blog not to publish recipes that are not mine, the people who publish recipes go to a lot of time, trouble, and expense to do so and I like to honor that by encouraging others to purchase the book or check it out from a lending library. Thank you for understanding. I do post the general ingredients for each recipe so perhaps you can have a go at it from that alone.

March 16, 2017

The 90th recipe I made with the Eating with Ellie group is African Peanut Stew, and can be found in Ellie Krieger's book You Have It Made, on page 271. The theme for the week was chosen by me: March to Your Own Drummer.

Ingredient list: eggplant, peanut oil, salt, onions, garlic, fresh ginger, coriander, cumin, cinnamon, turmeric, vegetable broth, diced tomatoes, collard greens, sweet potato, red bell pepper, peanut butter, and chopped peanuts. (I could not go the peanut route, so I subbed coconut oil for the peanut oil, almond butter for the peanut butter, and cashews for the peanuts.) This week is all about making whatever appeals to you from any of Ellie's recipes. I needed a good meatless dish for Lent and this one caught my eye because the photo of it was so pretty with all the vibrant colors in the stew. I also had an eggplant that needed to be turned into something delicious and fortunately found a red pepper and a sweet potatoes to keep it company. I love stews like this where you can see all the ingredients and eat them one at a time if you wish to do so, which most of the time is how I like to do things like this. The spices in this made it a little sweet, a little warm in flavor, with a little bit of a kick, nothing too much, just all in the right proportions to have a lovely new batch of flavors different from anything else I was cooking this week. The nutty taste of the almond butter and cashews was delicious...and so unlike any stews I usually make. This is a keeper, a recipe that I will enjoy making again and again.

If you wonder how the others did this week, click hereto follow their post links. You can also find the recipe schedule there for the coming weeks. Next week's recipe theme was chosen by Margaret and is What's Between the Slices? Please come and join us at any time, just leave the link to your post that week so that week so we know where to find you.

Note: In our posts, we do not publish the recipes from Ellie Krieger's book as those belong to her, we like to honor that and encourage you to buy her books to get the recipes. You can also find her recipes at her site here, at her weekly newspaper article here, her recipes online here, and at her current tv show site here. We know that you will enjoy using Ellie's books again and again and that you will feel your money was well spent.

I've heard all the pros and cons of baking risotto rather than stirring it stovetop. I've tried it both ways. I like both results just fine. When I saw this recipe, I was in the mood for a Mediterranean slant to a meal and this one sounded good...spinach, parmesan, feta, pine nuts...all snuggled in some creamy rice. This is so very good. It works well for a lunch or as an accompaniment to a meal, the recipe makes a whole lot (I made a fourth of the recipe and it gave me 4 servings instead of the one serving indicated). Don't add any extra salt as both cheeses have plenty of salt...I waited to see as I thought this would be the case, and it was perfectly seasoned without the additional salt. I did toast the pine nuts, such a rewarding thing to do. The recipe is on the site in the link above, I hope you try it as it is easy enough for a busy weeknight if you have something like a piece of salmon or some chicken in the oven already. It took my rice only 25 minutes. Definitely a repeat.

Wonder what the others made? You can find that by clicking here. Next week's theme is Not Bread Alone. Join us and leave a link to your post at the website, no commitment required.NOTE: In our posts, we do not publish the recipes from Donna Hay's books as those belong to her, we like to honor that and encourage you to buy her books to get the recipes. There are also many of her recipes at her site here. We know you will enjoy using Donna's books again and again as we all do and that your money will be well spent.

February 12, 2017

This month for Cookbook Countdown #14, I have chosen to use the cookbook Skinnytaste Fast and Slow by Gina Homolka, you can learn about it here. Each recipe has the calorie, fat, sat fat, cholesterol, carb, fiber, protein, sugars, and sodium counts listed. The recipe that I have made for this week is Slow Cooker Beef Stew With Sweet Potatoes, on page 69. Ingredient list: olive oil, onion, celery, tomato paste, beef chuck shoulder steak, salt, flour, beef stock, Worcestershire sauce, sweet potato, mushrooms, carrots, thyme, bay leaves, pepper, and peas. This is soup/stew season without a doubt, crockpot season always as I love the idea of leaving the house and having my own little personal chef (aka the crockpot) cook the dinner while I am away so that when I return, everything is nicely done and the kitchen is filled with a comforting aroma. I make a fair number of soups and stews so it is fun to find new ones to try and I can't remember ever having a beef stew recipe that called for sweet potatoes so I was eager to test this out and see the result. Results are in and are very favorable. The sweet potato is so tender and soft (the carrot retains a bit of solidness) and has just a touch of sweetness which compliments the acidity of the tomato paste and beef stock. Such great colors in this stew, lovely flavors, and it felt like eating a bowl of fresh vegetables with a tasty piece of roast. Definitely worthy of a repeat. To see what the others have cooked this month, click here. It is the policy on this blog not to publish recipes that are not mine, the people who publish recipes go to a lot of time, trouble, and expense to do so and I like to honor that by encouraging others to purchase the book or check it out from a lending library. Thank you for understanding. I do post the general ingredients for each recipe so perhaps you can have a go at it from that alone.

This month for Cookbook Countdown 14,I have chosen to use the cookbook Skinnytaste Fast and Slow by Gina Homolka, you can learn about it here. Each recipe has the calorie, fat, sat fat, cholesterol, carb, fiber, protein, sugars, and sodium counts listed. The recipe that I have made for this week is Sweet 'n' Spicy Salmon with Stir-Fried Veggies, on page 211. Ingredient list: salmon, salt, Thai Sweet Chili Sauce, Sriracha Sauce, canola oil, garlic, fresh ginger, bok choy (or other green vegetable), shiitake mushrooms, red and yellow bell peppers. This is my absolute favorite new way to serve salmon...oh, my goodness is the combination of sweet and spicy and also spicy&spicy a really good one, I may be making this one every week for the whole month. This particular combination of stir-fried vegetables is also very nice, and easy to find at the market always. The textures are all different and the flavors compliment each other nicely. Definitely worthy of a repeat, over and over and over. To see what the others have cooked this month, click here. It is the policy on this blog not to publish recipes that are not mine, the people who publish recipes go to a lot of time, trouble, and expense to do so and I like to honor that by encouraging others to purchase the book or check it out from a lending library. Thank you for understanding. I do post the general ingredients for each recipe so perhaps you can have a go at it from that alone.

The theme for this week for I Heart Cooking Clubs is Stuffed/Filled Dishes (Cook any dish for this theme from any of the selected IHCC chefs). The recipe I chose for this week is Piperies Yemistes Me Feta (Peppers Stuffed with Feta) from Tessa Kiros' cookbook Food From Many Greek Kitchens, on page 146. The recipe can also be found onlinehere. (Note: This is a small plate and the peppers themselves are only about 3-4" long.)

The ingredient list: sweet peppers, feta, olive oil, dried oregano.

Whenever you go to Greek restaurants, they always have a nice selection of little bites/appetizers to share while waiting for your meal, so when I saw this recipe, I thought it would be an easy, quick, and tasty bite to serve while dinner was cooking. We were not disappointed, these are really good...the heat makes the feta all warm and melty and the oregano in there makes it all feel very Greek and very summery, even on a cold winter's day. This was delicious. Definitely a repeat.

Please visit I Heart Cooking Clubs to see what the others made, just click on their photo entry to link to their post. Next week: February 13-February 19: Heidi Swanson: recipe for a dish with one (or more) of your favorite ingredients.

The 89th recipe I made with the Eating with Ellie group is Portobello Panini With Gorgonzola and Sun-Dried Tomatoes, and can be found in Ellie Krieger's book The Food You Crave, on page 65. You can also find the recipe online here. The theme for the week was chosen by Peggy: Stuff It!

Ingredient list: Portobello mushrooms, olive oil, gorgonzola, sun-dried tomatoes, salt and pepper. This cheese and tomato stuffed mushroom looked like a good idea when I was shopping around for a recipe with something stuffed into something else for this week's theme. I like all the ingredients, so letting them all keep close company seemed like a fine deal. I don't know if this was a case of "too many things touching" or if I didn't like the combination of them together, but whatever it was, this will not be a repeat recipe. The first indication that this wasn't going to fly was that the mushroom was great on the plate but then as it sat for even a very little bit, it got watery/weepy and that leakage was unappealing on the plate as I was trying to eat it. The addition of salt was unnecessary as it was plenty salty with the bleu cheese, which I think is a really salt cheese on its own, so it was really salty in taste. The sun-dried tomatoes got sort of lost in the overpowering taste of the cheese, so I couldn't taste them as much as I wanted to, maybe it would have been better for me to have twice the amount of tomatoes as cheese. I did it eat for my lunch and it wasn't a total loss, but it won't be on the repeat list. I will say, if you really like bleu cheese, this might be your recipe as that flavor was the most pronounced.

If you wonder how the others did this week, click here to follow their post links. You can also find the recipe schedule there for the coming weeks. Next week's recipe theme was chosen by me and is Valentine's Week: Your Heart's Desire. Please come and join us at any time, just leave the link to your post that week so that week so we know where to find you.

Note: In our posts, we do not publish the recipes from Ellie Krieger's book as those belong to her, we like to honor that and encourage you to buy her books to get the recipes. You can also find her recipes at her site here, at her weekly newspaper article here, her recipes online here, and at her current tv show site here. We know that you will enjoy using Ellie's books again and again and that you will feel your money was well spent.

In the past I have made Caramelized Onions and Onion Jam for various Donna Hay recipes, but I had never tried her Onion Marmalade recipe until today. Since it was Onion Week, I decided to make a topping for my ham and cheese slider by trying this recipe. Having a relish that featured onion, vinegar, and brown sugar with my ham and cheese was definitely a good choice. All the flavors went so well together and complimented each other nicely. I love the tang of sour and sweet with ham. My only note is that it took twice as long to simmer down to the correct consistently than the recipe stated but that was not a big deal as I was spiffing up the kitchen and could keep an eye on it. Definitely a repeat.

Wonder what the others made? You can find that by clicking here. Next week's theme is Rice is Nice. Join us and leave a link to your post at the website, no commitment required. NOTE: In our posts, we do not publish the recipes from Donna Hay's books as those belong to her, we like to honor that and encourage you to buy her books to get the recipes. There are also many of her recipes at her site here. We know you will enjoy using Donna's books again and again as we all do and that your money will be well spent.

February 07, 2017

For February, the Dorie's Cookies group participants can chose from one of two recipes to post, one on the first Tuesday and the other being the post for the third Tuesday. I chose to make the Rose-Hibiscus Shortbread Fans for this first Tuesday. This recipe can be found in Dorie's Cookies on pages 191-193 and alsoonline here. Ingredient list: all-purpose flour, white rice flour, sugar, hibiscus tea leaves, butter, salt, vanilla, rose extract, powdered sugar, milk. and rose colored decorating sugar. Margaret atTea and Sconesand I were chatting about the fact that neither of us thought much about making this particular recipe, but that we were really surprised how much we loved the cookies. Absolutely delicious...buttery, sugary, lightly flavored of floral scents, tea, and vanilla...oh, yes, they are very good cookies. As we always say here at TWD, "Trust Dorie" as she always knows best. She just does.The recipe goes together easily and quickly and the baking time is just 25 minutes. There was the option to add icing and decorative sugar or not, so I did half of that and left the others plain as they were perfectly delightful either way. I could taste the tea in the cookie, which did surprise me, and it tasted just perfect, not too overpowering, and just enough to say, "interesting in good way," while I was eating it. Definitely a repeat, absolutely delicious and fun...and it gave Margaret a chance to use her new fancy-pants shortbread pan, go check it out, makes her cookies look so pretty. The Tuesdays with Dorie group is now baking from Dorie Greenspan's new book, Dorie's Cookies. The posts will be the first and third Tuesdays of the month and can be linked at the main Tuesdays with Doriewebsite here. You can also find the information on joining in and/or see the posts from those in the group baking along at this location.

February 02, 2017

Back in 2010 the Avid Baker's Challenge started up using Flo Braker's recipes for two years. At the time, a couple of baking pals encouraged me to join in, and I did want to, but at the time I had a lot of cooking/baking with other groups so I didn't follow through...fast forward to 2017 and Margaret mentioned that we should bake with them this year as they are using Smitten Kitchen's recipes, we both like her recipes, and well, one thing led to another, and I found myself whipping up some brownie cookies this afternoon for the February recipe, much to Mark's delight. The group, after all, only publishes one recipe a month, seems manageable at this particular time. The recipe for The Browniest Cookies can be found on Smitten Kitchen's blog here. Ingredient List: butter, unsweetened chocolate, brown sugar, white sugar, eggs, vanilla, baking soda, salt, unsweetened cocoa powder, all-purpose flour, and chocolate chips.

The recipe goes together much as most brownie recipes, the significant difference being the addition of a greater amount of flour (probably to hold the cookies into shape as they bake as unlike brownies, they don't have the support of a pan with nice sturdy sides). They baked for less than 12 minutes, so you can really put these together with very little time involved. Mine turned out a little flatter than did the domed ones pictured on her blog, I used a larger scoop to make them so that they were a nice big cookie, so maybe that is the reason. Apparently they were very good and Mark loved them, he said they were very chocolatey, and that was a good thing as far as he was concerned. They were very brownie-like. He liked the crunchy edges. These were a big hit with a request being made for more soon (justifiably so as I gave away 14 of the 18 that I made to other happy chocolate lovers). Definitely a repeat. The March Avid Baker's Challenge recipe is for Liege Waffles and is found here if you would like to join in. Make it and post on March 1, 2, or 3.

The 88th recipe I made with the Eating with Ellie group is Chipotle Orange-Glazed Pork Chops with Maple Squash Puree, and can be found in Ellie Krieger's book So Easy, on page 135. You can also find the recipes online here and here. The theme for the week was chosen by Gaye: Mexican Madness.

Ingredient list: For the pork chop - maple syrup, orange juice concentrate, canned chipotle, adobo sauce, bone-in pork loin chops, salt; For the squash - frozen cooked butternut squash, water, maple syrup, butter, and salt. Mark loves pork chops. I am not that great with the execution of making pork chops, so through the years, we haven't had that many unless he was grilling them on the grill outdoors and he was in charge. Lately, I have been seeing a lot of pork chop recipes that seem like ones I could execute with a fair amount of success so I have been experimenting this past month trying to see if I can make pork chops worth eating. Turns out, I have come upon some nice recipes that guarantee success. This is one of those recipes. These were delicious, nicely done, and the flavors really made them shine, orange and pork really do go together, I was skeptical, but they do. Definitely a repeat.Frozen cooked butternut squash is a new one for me, I didn't even know you could buy that, but turns out you can and it is easy to prepare. You will want to make a puree or mash from it because the little pieces do not hold their shape when you heat them, so it lends itself well to a mash. The butternut squash flavor was very good, I was surprised. It was nice to flavor them to compliment the pork chop recipe. Definitely a repeat. I know these two recipes don't seem like Mexican Madness, the truth is that I'm not all that fond of Mexican food generally, but I do like certain ingredients and Chipotle in Adobo Sauce is one of those for sure, I love that smokey spicey kick, so I always have that on hand to add to chili. And squash grows plentiful in Mexico, so I'm thinking that my selection can qualify for my version of Mexican Madness...check out the others who clearly have more experience in making Mexican food.

If you wonder how the others did this week, click here to follow their post links. You can also find the recipe schedule there for the coming weeks. Next week's recipe theme was chosen by Peggy and is Stuff It. Please come and join us at any time, just leave the link to your post that week so that week so we know where to find you.

Note: In our posts, we do not publish the recipes from Ellie Krieger's book as those belong to her, we like to honor that and encourage you to buy her books to get the recipes. You can also find her recipes at her site here, at her weekly newspaper article here, her recipes online here, and at her current tv show site here. We know that you will enjoy using Ellie's books again and again and that you will feel your money was well spent.

For the past month I have been on a parsnip kick, and as they have been running them on sale each week at the market, I have been buying them and trying different parsnip recipes with them. When I saw this one for soup, I knew it was definitely the designated use for one of those bags of parsnips. The soup comes together easily and quickly, the majority of the time spent simmering away on the stovetop to cook the parsnips to a soft stage so you can mush them up easily in the blender. I don't have a store that carries onion jam here on a regular basis, so I just made my own (easy to do and the leftovers can be used in countless ways). The recipe was very good, a nice warm comforting bowl of goodness on a cold winter day, and I would make it again. The only change I would make would be to add some sherry vinegar, I think, to cut a little of the sweetness of the parsnips and onions. Definitely a repeat.

Wonder what the others made? You can find that by clicking here. Next week's theme is Onions, Any Way You Slice Them. Join us and leave a link to your post at the website, no commitment required. NOTE: In our posts, we do not publish the recipes from Donna Hay's books as those belong to her, we like to honor that and encourage you to buy her books to get the recipes. There are also many of her recipes at her site here. We know you will enjoy using Donna's books again and again as we all do and that your money will be well spent.

January 31, 2017

This month for Cookbook Countdown #13 I have chosen to use The New American Heart Association Cookbook(8th Edition). The recipes that I have made for this week are Fish Fillets in Foil Packets with Curried Vegetables (p. 170) and Middle Eastern Brown Rice (p. 471). Ingredient list: For the fish and vegetables - salmon, freshly ground pepper, green onions, thinly sliced red and yellow bell peppers, curry powder, white wine, lemon juice, olive oil (I used this instead of margarine which I never use); For the rice - olive oil, onion, celery, brown rice, water, chicken broth, raisins, orange zest, orange sections, and ground cloves.

Cooking fish in foil (I use parchment) is nothing out of the ordinary here but I was interested in trying the variations in the cookbook as they had several with various combinations of veggies and spices. You do cook the veggies in their sauce for a little bit before adding to the packet so they were nicely done as the packet itself only takes 12 minutes to cook. I liked the texture of the peppers and onions cooked this way and the sauce flavored the salmon nicely. Definitely worthy of a repeat. To go with the flavors of the fish packet, I found this rice recipe in the book, and I'm very happy I did as it was such a nice "go with," complimenting the fish, veggies, and sauce just right. Mark is not the biggest rice fan, but he likes it if it has different seasonings and flavors, so this was a hit with him as well. The bits of veggies and fruits were really good, the taste of cloves gave mid-eastern flair Definitely worthy of a repeat.

I have enjoyed getting to know this cookbook this month and cooking various recipes from it. I will continue to explore and cook from it, and it may show up here at Cookbook Countdown again this year. I would recommend this cookbook for its lovely recipes, whether you are looking to improve your heart health or not. Well worth the price of the book to have it in your collection. To see what the others have cooked this month, click here. It is the policy on this blog not to publish recipes that are not mine, the people who publish recipes go to a lot of time, trouble, and expense to do so and I like to honor that by encouraging others to purchase the book or check it out from a lending library. Thank you for understanding. I do post the general ingredients for each recipe so perhaps you can have a go at it from that alone.

January 29, 2017

The theme for this week for I Heart Cooking Clubs is Potluck (Cook any dish from any of the selected IHCC chefs). The recipe I chose for this week is Yiaourti Me Meli (Greek Yogurt, Honey, and Nuts) from Tessa Kiros' cookbook Food From Many Greek Kitchens, on page 303. The recipe can also be found onlinehere.

The ingredient list: Greek yogurt, walnuts, cinnamon, and honey.

What could be more simple or more delicious for a little sweet bite at the end of the meal? I'm sure it would be great any time of the day, but I have been choosing to have a little of this in the evening after dinner and it satisfies that longing for just a sweet nibble to end the day. All the flavors work so nicely together, the tangy bite of the yogurt, the crunch of the nuts, the warmth of the cinnamon, and the sweetness of the honey. It is reminiscent of eating baklava, but without the guilt. Definitely a repeat.

Please visit I Heart Cooking Clubs to see what the others made, just click on their photo entry to link to their post. Next week: January 30-February 5: Heidi Swanson: Something to Sip.

Snapper is not something we make a lot of, but this Sunday I deviated from the typical salmon to use this recipe in the book for snapper and was rewarded with a wonderful fish dish with a gorgeous and delicious sauce. I will be making this one again. Definitely a repeat. Mark loves mushrooms so when we first got this cookbook, he went through it and put stars by all the recipes that he wanted me to make...every single mushroom recipe was starred, so I have been working my way through those. This was a really good stuffed mushroom, full of flavor and cooked nicely, not at all mushy...really, it did not look this dark in person. Definitely a repeat. We like Pasta Salad as a general rule, but I wasn't too certain of this one as we don't usually make creamy pasta salad as a general rule, preferring olive oil based pasta salads much more. And such was the case with this recipe, it was nice, it tasted good, but I think I could take the same ingredients and use olive oil instead of the creamy bits and be more than happy with the result. I'm glad I made it, but I probably won't make this one again and if I did I would lessen the amount of raw green onion as it was a bit much. It was a nice addition to the meal but nothing outstanding. To see what the others have cooked this month, click here. It is the policy on this blog not to publish recipes that are not mine, the people who publish recipes go to a lot of time, trouble, and expense to do so and I like to honor that by encouraging others to purchase the book or check it out from a lending library. Thank you for understanding. I do post the general ingredients for each recipe so perhaps you can have a go at it from that alone.

The 87th recipe I made with the Eating with Ellie group is Red Bean Stew with Walnuts and Pomegranate, and can be found in Ellie Krieger's book Weeknight Wonders, on page 233. The theme for the week was chosen by Margaret: Soup's On!

Ingredient list: onion, canola oil, garlic, kidney beans, ground coriander, red pepper flakes, pomegranate juice, walnut pieces, chicken broth, salt, pepper, parsley, red wine vinegar, and pomegranate seeds. It's definitely soup weather here in Indiana. Not as cold as it has been in years past, but still with the chill in the air, soup is a welcome companion for lunch or dinner in January. This stew is full of flavor and delicious, it's very thick without much liquid, but I didn't mind that as it truly ate like a stew and not a soup. I liked the kind of sweet and sour flavor it had going on with the nice tangy taste of the vinegar, which always makes beans just wake right up in my opinion. The walnuts gave it a nice meaty crunch. Definitely worthy of a repeat.

If you wonder how the others did this week, click here to follow their post links. You can also find the recipe schedule there for the coming weeks. Next week's recipe theme was chosen by Gaye and is Mexican Madness. Please come and join us at any time, just leave the link to your post that week so that week so we know where to find you.

Note: In our posts, we do not publish the recipes from Ellie Krieger's book as those belong to her, we like to honor that and encourage you to buy her books to get the recipes. You can also find her recipes at her site here, at her weekly newspaper article here, her recipes online here, and at her current tv show site here. We know that you will enjoy using Ellie's books again and again and that you will feel your money was well spent.

My 151st recipe with the Wednesday with Donna Hay group is Chickpea, Feta, and Carrot Fritters, was chosen for the theme, Lovely Legumes, and is found in Donna Hay's book Simple Dinners on pages 68-69.

First off, I had to look up what exactly qualified as a "legume" to make sure I was in the right arena. Chickpeas are legumes, so I was good to go with this recipe which looked interesting and delicious for a nice lunch option for me (the husband does not like, he always claims, chickpeas, so refuses to participate in anything chickpea-related). The fritters are just "fried" in a tiny bit of oil in the pan to give them a nice crisp crust so they were not at all greasy, which is always a good thing. They had a nice gentle flavor tasting both of chickpeas and carrots, which are both kind of mild in taste, so if you wanted to jazz them up a bit, you could hit them with some hot sauce that would also compliment the feta cheese in it. I liked them just fine squirted with the lemon and dipped in the yogurt. Definitely a repeat.

Wonder what the others made? You can find that by clicking here. Next week's theme is Soup's On! Join us and leave a link to your post at the website, no commitment required. NOTE: In our posts, we do not publish the recipes from Donna Hay's books as those belong to her, we like to honor that and encourage you to buy her books to get the recipes. There are also many of her recipes at her site here. We know you will enjoy using Donna's books again and again as we all do and that your money will be well spent.

January 22, 2017

The theme for this week for I Heart Cooking Clubs is Face the Day (Choose a Heidi Swanson breakfast or brunch recipe that gives you energy to face the day!). The recipes I chose for this week are Warm and Nutty Cinnamon Quinoa (above), and Pomegranate Yogurt Bowl (below). They can be found on Heidi's bloghere and here.

Maybe twice a year we sit down to a full breakfast, usually at a restaurant, and I can't think the last time we did this as we aren't really full breakfast people generally, so maybe not even once or twice a year actually. My point being, breakfast is never a big deal here, especially now that it is just the two of us at home. Breakfast is simple and usually fairly healthy, so it was fun to peruse Heidi's blog for breakfast recipes as I figured she would be all about that as well. So many selections to choose from, so I chose two and had lovely breakfasts this morning. The first recipe I chose was the Warm and Nutty Cinnamon Quinoa because, as I said last week, I'm trying to figure out the whole Quinoa craze at the moment. The recipe was easy and absolutely repeat-worthy delicious. Better than oatmeal with berries. Better than cereal and berries. Better than...well, better than most breakfast anything actually, I absolutely loved it and will be making this one fairly often. The quinoa is soft but not what I would call mushy, the berries sort of melt into it the longer it sits and makes it fruity, and the cinnamon and agave sweeten it all up in a warm way. Really, try this one, you will love it. The second recipe I made was Pomegranate Yogurt Bowl and I chose it because I'm trying to figure out the whole pomegranate craze as well as the quinoa craze. I love the taste of pomegranate as it is sweet and bitter at the same time. It was a perfect choice with the yogurt and granola drizzled with honey. The seeds added a fun nutty crunch. This one is also definitely a repeat here, and often. I've already made it three times. Looking at all the breakfast recipes on her blog, I will keep working my way through the list as they all look wonderful and delicious. What a find!

Please visit I Heart Cooking Clubs to see what the others made, just click on their photo entry to link to their post. Next week: January 23-29nd: Potluck.

January 19, 2017

The 86th recipe I made with the Eating with Ellie group is Pork Chops with Carrots, Parsnips, and Sage, and can be found in Ellie Krieger's book Weeknight Wonders, on page 121. The theme for the week was chosen by me: It's Cold Outside, Let's Warm It Up.

Ingredient list: pork loin chops, canola oil, salt, pepper, carrots, parsnips, sage, apple cider, chicken broth, Dijon, and honey. When it is cold outside, I love firing up the stove and oven and making something with substance and depth. When I was growing up in Iowa, the winter months were always very cold, snowy, icy, windy, and just no place you wanted to be after dark, which comes early in the winter. There was always something magical about the oven and stove top hosting wonderful meals that seem to just bring comfort and security from the warmth and fragrance emitting from them. This week seemed like a great time to create something along those lines with maybe just a tad more lightness in the carbs/calorie/fat contents. Enter Ellie with this homey comforting pork chop dinner that would be welcome on any Iowa dinner table in the midst of these cold winter days...and just as welcome at our Indiana table as well. The flavors are excellent and the parsnips with their light creamy color make it seem like you are having potatoes with the carrots. The cider kept the pork chops moist and tender, the mustard so delicious with the pork. We served a salad alongside and loved this meal. Definitely a repeat.

If you wonder how the others did this week, click here to follow their post links. You can also find the recipe schedule there for the coming weeks. Next week's recipe theme was chosen by Margaret and is Soup's On. Please come and join us at any time, just leave the link to your post that week so that week so we know where to find you.

Note: In our posts, we do not publish the recipes from Ellie Krieger's book as those belong to her, we like to honor that and encourage you to buy her books to get the recipes. You can also find her recipes at her site here, at her weekly newspaper article here, her recipes online here, and at her current tv show site here. We know that you will enjoy using Ellie's books again and again and that you will feel your money was well spent.

January 18, 2017

My 150th recipe with the Wednesday with Donna Hay group is Lemon Chicken with Tomato Salad, was chosen for the theme, A Taste of Citrus, and is found in Donna Hay's book Fresh and Light on pages 64-65.

I had this salad for lunch one day when I accidentally stumbled upon some heirloom tomatoes at the market that smelled like ripe tomatoes before I even picked one up to check it out. What are the chances of that in January in Indiana??? I truly love DH's method of making lemon poached chicken and used it many times over the years, it is so moist and delicious with a slight lemon/pepper taste. The lettuce, tomatoes, cheese, and chicken with the dressing were a perfect lunch and one I could repeat over and over in tomato season.

Wonder what the others made? You can find that by clicking here. Next week's theme is Lovely Legumes. Join us and leave a link to your post at the website, no commitment required. NOTE: In our posts, we do not publish the recipes from Donna Hay's books as those belong to her, we like to honor that and encourage you to buy her books to get the recipes. There are also many of her recipes at her site here. We know you will enjoy using Donna's books again and again as we all do and that your money will be well spent.

January 17, 2017

For January, the Dorie's Cookies group participants can chose from one of two recipes to post, one on the first Tuesday and the other being the post for the third Tuesday. I chose to make the Breakfast Biscotti for this third Tuesday. This recipe can be found in Dorie's Cookies on pages 98-100 and also online here.

Ingredient list: flour, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, butter, sugar, salt, orange zest, eggs, old-fashioned rolled oats, granola, almonds, and dried cranberries. I am not a fan of biscotti, just to say right offhand, as I don't care for the hardness of the cookie. I don't drink hot beverages that lend themselves to dunking a hard cookie to soften it, i.e coffee and hot chocolate, so they have never been something I would go in search of, or even help myself to if they were right in front of me. Mark, however, was willing to take one for the team and totally embrace the biscotti consumption expectations this week. I made a quarter of a batch which gave me 10 cookies. They are small, so I'm confident in his ability to pelt these away in a few sittings. I will say that this recipe is easy to follow and didn't require a lot of work, only the baking process took any real time commitment, and not very much. Since Mark loves cookies, almonds, cranberries, and oatmeal, this was certainly a winner. Although Dorie commented in the book that she wasn't encouraging anyone to actually have these cookies for breakfast, my cookies-for-breakfast-eating husband did not see a problem with that at all. Definitely a keeper, definitely something he would like to eat again. The Tuesdays with Dorie group is now baking from Dorie Greenspan's new book, Dorie's Cookies. The posts will be the first and third Tuesdays of the month and can be linked at the main Tuesdays with Doriewebsite here. You can also find the information on joining in and/or see the posts from those in the group baking along at this location.

January 16, 2017

This month for Cookbook Countdown #13 I have chosen to use The New American Heart Association Cookbook(8th Edition). The recipes that I have made for this week are Ginger-Walnut Salmon and Asparagus (p. 159), Tangy Carrots (p. 438), and Mushrooms with White Wine and Shallots (p. 451). (Note: While this looks like a huge plate of food, it all actually is resting on a salad plate. The salmon is a 4 oz. portion size so you can kind of use that as a reference.)

Ingredient list: For the Salmon - salmon, asparagus, brown sugar, honey, Worcestershire sauce, cornstarch, gingerroot, walnuts, and crystallized ginger; For the Carrots - carrots, shallot, Dijon, lime juice, pepper, salt, and parsley; For the Mushrooms - mushrooms, shallots, white wine, parsley, and pepper. Sticking with Salmon on Sundays, and wanting to try as many of the salmon recipes in this book as possible, I picked this one as it is cooked in foil/parchment with a little sauce. I love cooking fish in parchment and 90% of the time, that is how I make fish here. I don't do too many sauces, but I think this book likes to focus on giving flavor to food without added fat and salt, so this seems to be a great way to do that with this sauce. We did like the taste very much, although the next time I will make half the sauce stated as it was quite a bit more than we needed. The walnuts and crystallized ginger were really good, giving it a nice little texture and crunch. The instructions were to cook the asparagus in with the salmon (the salmon on top of the asparagus) but I don't like my vegetables touching my fish while they are cooking, so I just roasted the asparagus separately in the oven with the salmon packet. Definitely a repeat. The sides were equally easy and pleasing. The carrots received their flavor from the mustard and lime juice, which really did taste nice together. The mushrooms were great with a shallot/wine sauce that reminded me of my old days cooking in Whisk Wednesdays with all the French combinations, minus the copious amounts of butter. All in all, these three recipes were delicious, easy, and definitely ones to be repeated, with this much flavor, we really didn't miss the salt and butter we normally would have used in these recipes. To see what the others have cooked this month, click here. It is the policy on this blog not to publish recipes that are not mine, the people who publish recipes go to a lot of time, trouble, and expense to do so and I like to honor that by encouraging others to purchase the book or check it out from a lending library. Thank you for understanding. I do post the general ingredients for each recipe so perhaps you can have a go at it from that alone.

I've been trying to figure out quinoa and recipes using it as I'm hoping to use it more often, so when I saw this recipe that used both lemon juice and lemon zest, I figured it would be a good one for this week. (Well, a healthier recipe no doubt than the one I really wanted to make for this week, which was Heidi's recipe for Limoncello Macaroons.) I like little salads like this that I can assemble and have ready to add to a meal or eat just on their own. That said, this was not a hit for me as the raw onion and raw garlic proportions in it are just way too much for my taste. They definitely overpowered everything else going on in the salad and after a couple of bites, I decided to morph it all into a sort of "fried rice" type of thing so I could cook the onion and garlic and relieve some of that pungent taste. That worked well. Definitely not a repeat recipe as written, at least for me. At some point, I will be making those Limoncello Macaroon cookies!

Please visit I Heart Cooking Clubs to see what the others made, just click on their photo entry to link to their post. Next week: January 16-22nd: Face the Day (Choose a Heidi Swanson breakfast or brunch recipe that gives you energy to face the day!)

January 12, 2017

The 85th recipe I made with the Eating with Ellie group is Almond-Crusted Chicken Tenders With Apricot-Mustard Dipping Sauce, and can be found in Ellie Krieger's book You Have It Made, on page 176. The theme for the week was chosen by Peggy: Barnyard Fun.

Ingredient list: yogurt, thyme, garlic powder, salt, pepper, chicken tenders, whole-wheat panko, sliced almonds, olive oil, lemon zest, apricot preserves, and Dijon. Fried chicken is something I never make here at the house. I don't like the mess it makes and I don't think we need to be making a whole lot of fried food here, especially now that Mark is trying to nix that out of his diet completely. When I saw this recipe for a baked chicken tender that sorta kinda maybe looked like a piece of fried chicken, it caught my attention and this week seemed to be a good time to give it a go. It's very good. Does it taste exactly like the Colonel's recipe with that drippy oozy moist chicken and breading, well, no, it does not, but it is still very good. It makes you feel like you ate a piece of fried chicken and takes away the craving you might be having for fried chicken so I'm counting this a rounding success. The dipping sauce was very nice and easy to make, so a little of that did make me feel like I was having a special treat. Definitely a repeat.

If you wonder how the others did this week, click here to follow their post links. You can also find the recipe schedule there for the coming weeks. Next week's recipe theme was chosen by me and is It's Cold Outside, Let's Warm It Up. Please come and join us at any time, just leave the link to your post that week so that week so we know where to find you.

Note: In our posts, we do not publish the recipes from Ellie Krieger's book as those belong to her, we like to honor that and encourage you to buy her books to get the recipes. You can also find her recipes at her site here, at her weekly newspaper article here, her recipes online here, and at her current tv show site here. We know that you will enjoy using Ellie's books again and again and that you will feel your money was well spent.

January 11, 2017

My 149th recipe with the Wednesday with Donna Hay group is Preserved Lemon Chicken with Kale, was chosen for the theme, A Chicken in Every Pot, and is found in Donna Hay's book Fresh and Light on page 76-77.

The best thing about this recipe is that is healthy and leftovers make great fried rice the next day. Despite the garlic, lemon rind, and almonds, all of which I love, the whole thing was a bit bland. I added a tiny bit of salt and a good amount of pepper and still it seemed a bit bland. The kale was really good cooked this way. I'm not sure how to improve upon the blandness...it just needs a punch of something that makes you want to eat it again next week. Or even the week after. That said, it was a healthy and filling meal and we had a tomato and mozzarella side salad with it which was delicious, delicious heirloom tomatoes this time of year, who knew? Is this one a repeat? Not in it's current form, but I could play around with the ingredients and come up with something to make it stand out.

Wonder what the others made? You can find that by clicking here. Next week's theme is A Taste of Citrus. Join us and leave a link to your post at the website, no commitment required. NOTE: In our posts, we do not publish the recipes from Donna Hay's books as those belong to her, we like to honor that and encourage you to buy her books to get the recipes. There are also many of her recipes at her site here. We know you will enjoy using Donna's books again and again as we all do and that your money will be well spent.

January 09, 2017

This month for Cookbook Countdown I have chosen to use The New American Heart Association Cookbook(8th Edition). The recipes that I have made for this week are Baked Salmon with Cucumber Relish (p. 160), Orange Sweet Potatoes (p. 467), and Green Bean and Tomato Toss (p. 93). (Note: While this looks like a huge plate of food, it all actually is resting on a salad plate. The salmon is a 4 oz. portion size and the sweet potato is half of a small one so you can kind of use that as a reference.)

Ingredient list: For the Salmon - salmon, pepper, salt, yogurt, lemon zest, lemon juice, cucumber, red onion, jalapeno; For the Sweet Potatoes - sweet potatoes, orange zest, orange juice, brown sugar, cinnamon; For the Green Beans - green beans, tomatoes, lemon juice, olive oil, Dijon, pepper, and salt. We almost always have salmon for dinner on Sunday so I am thinking these are the recipes I want to try first from this book. It is nice to have different seasonings and sauces to try with the salmon. The salmon was cooked simply with just a bit of pepper and very little salt, I baked mine in parchment in the oven that way. The yogurt mixture was quick and easy, same with the cucumber/onion/jalapeno relish, each took only a few minutes and added a nice taste and texture to the salmon, cooling and fresh with a bit of kick from the jalapeno. Definitely a repeat. The sides were equally easy and pleasing. The sweet potato I just roasted in the oven with the salmon (cut it in half lengthwise and lay it cut side down on a baking tray after scoring the cut side in a grid pattern...I put it in while the oven is preheating and by the time the oven is ready and I put the salmon packet in, the sweet potato finishes at the same time as the salmon). After it roasted, I scooped it out and mashed it with the flavorings in the recipe. This is really delicious, the flavor of orange and cinnamon with the sweet potato is marvelous. Next time I would leave out the brown sugar as we felt the sweet potato is sweet enough without it, however it does add a little depth of the sweet flavor with its caramel undertones. The green beans and tomatoes are a straight up dish with the added mustard giving them a little punch of flavor that went nicely with the salmon. All in all, these three recipes were delicious, easy, and definitely ones to be repeated. To see what the others have cooked this month, click here. It is the policy on this blog not to publish recipes that are not mine, the people who publish recipes go to a lot of time, trouble, and expense to do so and I like to honor that by encouraging others to purchase the book or check it out from a lending library. Thank you for understanding. I do post the general ingredients for each recipe so perhaps you can have a go at it from that alone.

January 05, 2017

As I was visiting around looking at the various contributions this week at Cookbook Countdown, I noticed a sweet little cookie recipe made by Kimmy, Orange Cookies with White Chocolate Chips, and her description of it sounded just right, i.e. "not too sweet...I left out a lot of the sugar."

I had all the ingredients on hand, figured I could whip them up in no time, and straighten up my pantry cupboard while they baked. I made a quarter of a recipe and it gave me 9 smallish cookies, perfect for just a little nibble or two when you are wanting something a little sweet, a little orange, and a little vanilla. The recipe went together perfectly as she said, I let them bake a couple minutes longer as I like cookies with crispy edges. Definitely a keeper, thanks, Kimmy.

Kimmy has great photos and the recipe if you want to hop on over and check it out here.

Last January my good friend and food blogging buddy, Margaret of Tea and Scones, told me about a new group that was starting up, one in which you could not only choose your own recipe, but could also select your own cookbook each month. I was intrigued and hoped to join in right away. Last year being what it was, that didn't happen, so now I am regrouping a year later and sallying forth with the intention/hope of being a fairly regular participant at Cookbook Countdown. Cookbook Countdown was started by Joyce of Kitchen Flavors and Emily ofEmily’s Cooking {Makan2} Foray. The concept for the group is to encourage participants to truly use the cookbooks they own and might not be using as much as they like. This sounds like a great idea to me as I have many cookbooks that I wish I was cooking from a bit more and I figure that this might be a way to make that happen. Each month one can choose whichever cookbook seems inspiring and cook one or as many recipes from that book as desired, posting and linking to the main site.

This month for Cookbook Countdown I have chosen to use The New American Heart Association Cookbook(8th Edition). In August our son Alex died at the age of 23. Two weeks later my husband had a heart attack brought on by intense grief and stress. As part of his rehab, it was recommended that he follow a heart-friendly diet and we have been embracing that these past four months, hoping to follow a healthy cooking plan for the most part, and using the not-so-healthy items as a once-in-awhile-in-small-amounts kind of thing. Choosing this book for this month feels very good to me, a chance to explore healthier recipe options of foods we already enjoy, and a place to share my findings. The first recipe I have chosen to make from the book is Sesame-Orange Salmon, found on page 166.

Ingredient list: salmon, fresh orange juice, orange zest, sesame seeds, salt-free lemon pepper, soy sauce (lowest sodium possible), and toasted sesame oil. We usually eat salmon once a week, so this seemed a fine place to start as the heart-healthy diet recommends fish 2-3 times a week. The added benefit of cooking fish is that it is quick and easy. Most of the time we just add a little seasoning and are good to go, and many times I do serve it with lemon. The idea of using orange juice and zest sounded good to me and it was, especially with the addition of the Asian flavors that I enjoy. The sauce was light and not overpowering. Definitely a repeat, this is one I could make over and over and not tire of it. To see what the others have cooked this month, click here. It is the policy on this blog not to publish recipes that are not mine. It always seems to me that the people who do publish recipes go to a lot of time, trouble, and expense to do so and that I should honor that by encouraging you to purchase the book or check it out from a lending library. Thank you for understanding. I do post the general ingredients for each recipe so perhaps you can have a go at it from that alone.

The 84th recipe I made with the Eating with Ellie group is Black-eyed Peas, Greens, Eggs, and Ham, and can be found in Ellie Krieger's book Weeknight Wonders, on page 124. The theme for the week was chosen by Gaye: New Year Celebration.

Ingredient list: onion, celery, ham, canola oil, garlic, canned black-eyed peas, kale, Creole Seasoning, chicken broth, eggs, and hot sauce. It is customary, I am told, that one serves something called Hoppin' John in the south for New Years. I grew up in Iowa and have lived my adult life in Indiana, so this is not so much a tradition for us but many friends do serve it and I thought this year I would give it a go. The recipe first caught my eye when Gaye chose it earlier and posted it for Breakfast for Dinner week back in April of last year, click here. You will note that Gaye had no trouble finding black-eyed peas in a can in Australia, but that I could not for the life of me find black-eyed peas in a can in Indianapolis. Okay, my search was two stores, which is my limit generally as I am not a shopper. So, I did substitute some nice Northern Navy Beans in a can which I happen to love and seem to me to look like their southern neighbors, minus that little black eye. This is a really good recipe, the flavors are delicious, they work so nicely together (love kale in anything), and I am now a fan of this Hoppin' John style New Years tradition. (Plus it is a very good way to use up any leftover Christmas ham that you have hanging around.) Using canned beans means that it doesn't take very long and you can assemble things as you go as you do a little of this and that between adding it to the pan. I took the photo in the pan because...well because in my mind this dish was complete as far as Ellie was concerned, but there is no way I am eating a runny egg, so as far as I was concerned, this needed a few additional minutes of cooking time. Well worth every single bit of the process. Just maybe this is going to take center stage next New Years here as well. Definitely a repeat.

If you wonder how the others did this week, click here to follow their post links. You can also find the recipe schedule there for the coming weeks. Next week's recipe theme was chosen by Peggy and is Barnyard Fun. Please come and join us at any time, just leave the link to your post that week so that week so we know where to find you.

Note: In our posts, we do not publish the recipes from Ellie Krieger's book as those belong to her, we like to honor that and encourage you to guy her books to get the recipes. You can also find her recipes at her site here, at her weekly newspaper article here, her recipes online here, and at her current tv show site here. We know that you will enjoy using Ellie's books again and again and that you will feel your money was well spent.

January 04, 2017

The theme for this week for I Heart Cooking Clubs is Food Goals (Cook a Heidi Swanson recipe that shares or includes your healthy food goals for the new year.) The recipe I chose for this week is New Year Noodle Soup, and it can be found on Heidi's bloghere. Heidi states that this recipe is one she adapted from another recipe she found and enjoyed.

Well, well, it's been awhile since I showed up here at I Heart Cooking Clubs to join in the fun of discovering and exploring two different chefs a year. I was last here in December of 2013 so it is time to resurface for a bit perhaps and learn about Heidi Swanson for a couple of months. Fortunately the people here are generally very nice and patient about me just dropping in now and again.

This soup recipe is an excellent way to start a new year, no doubt about it. The list of ingredients is long, but I don't know that I would leave any of them out as the combination is just delicious. Soups always work in well with my game plan for healthy eating as most of the soups I make are broth based, not cream based, and soup is such a great thing to have on hand for lunches...when I have soup at hand, I can make a quick and healthy lunch and not be grabbing for something to nibble on or something between two slices of bread for lunch. This soup is just as good, if not better, warmed up throughout the week. Definitely a repeat.

Please visit I Heart Cooking Clubs to see what the others made, just click on their photo entry to link to their post. Next week: January 9-15th: Monthly Featured Ingredient/Dish - Lemons! (Make any recipe containing lemons, or any citrus, from any of our past or present IHCC chefs.)

The 83rd recipe I made with the Eating with Ellie group is Open Faced Grilled Vegetable Sandwiches, and can be found in Ellie Krieger's book Weeknight Wonders, on page 82. The theme for the week was chosen by me: It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas.

Ingredient list: zucchini, red bell pepper, red onion, olive oil, baguette, mozzarella, basil pesto. I'm certain you are wondering what my recipes choice has to do with the theme this week, and my only explanation is that the recipe has the traditional colors of Christmas in it, so that looked pretty seasonal, and the fact that when one is running around getting ready for Christmas, recipes like this that are quick and easy (and healthy) are much appreciated. It went together quickly, tasted fresh and inviting, the pesto gives it a bit of a deep exciting flavor, and it worked out as a great lunch for us both on a busy day. Definitely a repeat.

If you wonder how the others did this week, click here to follow their post links. You can also find the recipe schedule there for the coming weeks. Next week's recipe theme was chosen by Gaye and is New Year Celebration. Please come and join us at any time, just leave the link to your post that week so that week so we know where to find you.

Note: In our posts, we do not publish the recipes from Ellie Krieger's book as those belong to her, we like to honor that and encourage you to guy her books to get the recipes. You can also find her recipes at her site here, at her weekly newspaper article here, her recipes online here, and at her current tv show site here. We know that you will enjoy using Ellie's books again and again and that you will feel your money was well spent.

The 82nd recipe I made with the Eating with Ellie group is Chicken Romesco, and can be found in Ellie Krieger's book Weeknight Wonders, on page 151. The theme for the week was chosen by me: Fowl Weather.

Ingredient list: slivered almonds, onion, olive oil, garlic, roasted red peppers, smoked paprika, fire-roasted canned diced tomatoes, sherry vinegar, salt, pepper, chicken breasts, olive oil, and parsley. This sauce is delicious...it kind of seeped into the chicken a bit as you can see from the photo, but nevertheless, it was such a nice texture and taste for the chicken. Although there are several steps and ingredients, it all really did come together quickly (you use jarred roasted red peppers to help that along as she suggested). Definitely a repeat.

If you wonder how the others did this week, click here to follow their post links. You can also find the recipe schedule there for the coming weeks. Next week's recipe theme was chosen by Gaye and is New Year Celebration. Please come and join us at any time, just leave the link to your post that week so that week so we know where to find you.

Note: In our posts, we do not publish the recipes from Ellie Krieger's book as those belong to her, we like to honor that and encourage you to guy her books to get the recipes. You can also find her recipes at her site here, at her weekly newspaper article here, her recipes online here, and at her current tv show site here. We know that you will enjoy using Ellie's books again and again and that you will feel your money was well spent.

My 148th recipe with the Wednesday with Donna Hay group is Grilled Steak with Green Salsa, was chosen for the theme, Beef, It's What's For Dinner, and is found in Donna Hay's book Fresh and Light on page 107.

Yes, we like our steak very rare here so I tried to cover up a good deal of it in the photo with this salsa sauce and that turned out to be a good thing as this salsa sauce is very tasty with a bit of a kick from the chili and a nice tang from the vinegar. It's blended together in the food processor like a pesto but the flavors are slightly different, it tastes more freshly green, the photo makes it look darker than it actually was, it was much greener in hue. I liked the smoked paprika on the steak, the smokey taste really did come through which was nice since I was using an indoor stovetop grill, gave it a little more outdoorsy essence. This is definitely a repeat as it gave the steak a little jazz and kick.

Wonder what the others made? You can find that by clicking here. Next week's theme is A Chicken in Every Pot. Join us and leave a link to your post at the website, no commitment required. NOTE: In our posts, we do not publish the recipes from Donna Hay's books as those belong to her, we like to honor that and encourage you to buy her books to get the recipes. There are also many of her recipes at her site here. We know you will enjoy using Donna's books again and again as we all do and that your money will be well spent.

January 03, 2017

For January, the Dorie's Cookies group participants can chose from one of two recipes to post, one on the first Tuesday and the other being the post for the third Tuesday. I chose to make the World Peace Cookies for the first Tuesday. This recipe can be found in Dorie's Cookies on pages 335-337 and also online here. Ingredient list: flour, baking powder, baking soda, butter, brown sugar, sugar, salt, vanilla, and bittersweet chocolate. This is what I call one of Dorie's signature cookies. The recipe is easy and simple with common pantry ingredients, the only thing of note is that it does require some resting time in the refrigerator or freezer so it's best to plan ahead to fit all that into the mix. I am not a chocolate lover...not at all, so this one was FMO (For Mark Only), much to his delight as he loves chocolate and anytime he can come home to a chocolate treat is a great day for him. I made half a recipe and that worked out well. Mark was very happy with his chocolate treat, he thought these cookies were just wonderfully delicious. Definitely repeat worthy. The Tuesdays with Dorie group is now baking from Dorie Greenspan's new book, Dorie's Cookies. The posts will be the first and third Tuesdays of the month and can be linked at the main Tuesdays with Doriewebsite here. You can also find the information on joining in and/or see the posts from those in the group baking along at this location.

December 20, 2016

For December, the Dorie's Cookies group participants could chose from one of two recipes to post, one on the first Tuesday and the other being the post for the third Tuesday. I chose to make the Pfefferneuse for the first Tuesday, leaving the Christmas Spice Cookies for this third week. This spice cookie recipe can be found in Dorie's Cookies on pages 236-238. Ingredient list: butter, sugar, salt, egg whites, vanilla, flour, cinnamon, ginger, ground cloves, allspice, and sanding sugar. The recipe was easy and simple with common pantry ingredients, the only thing of note is that it does require some resting time in the refrigerator or freezer so it's best to plan ahead to fit all that into the mix. I am so-so on the dough's friendly nature...I've had friendlier dough to work with so this one would not rank in the top five. It was a bit sticky and even rolling it between sheets of parchment didn't make it more friendly. I had a difficult time getting it to stay firm long enough to move the cut out to the cookie sheet and a real struggle getting the little ends of the stars and snowflakes to come cleanly out of the cookie cutter, despite it's required rest in the freezer. That said, on taste alone, this is one very top five tasty cookie dough which translates to a very desirable cookie, as in I would choose one of these off the cookie tray immediately. The combination of the spices is lovely and not overpowering, it makes me sort of want to use this from now on as the sugar cookie dough I use for cutouts now seems a bit bland. Would I make these again? Yes for flavor...might need to try again on dough management. Definitely repeat worthy. The Tuesdays with Dorie group is now baking from Dorie Greenspan's new book, Dorie's Cookies. The posts will be the first and third Tuesdays of the month and can be linked at the main Tuesdays with Doriewebsite here. You can also find the information on joining in and/or see the posts from those in the group baking along at this location.

December 08, 2016

The 81st recipe I made with the Eating with Ellie group is Roasted Provencal Salmon and Fennel, and can be foundonline here. The theme for the week was chosen by Gaye: When Life Gives You Lemons.

Ingredient list: lemon juice, lemon zest, olive oil, honey, thyme, salt, pepper, fennel, salmon, and lemon wedges for serving. Lemon is my favorite ingredient, sweet or savory, if there is lemon in the recipe, I'm usually in right away. I always have a bag of lemons on hand and I don't use them sparingly. It's not unusual for me to substitute other ingredients when I am out to avoid a trip to the market, but when it comes to lemons, if I'm using the last one, the next stop for me is the produce department to restock my lemons. This recipe has lemon wedges, lemon juice, and lemon zest...your complete lemon round up! Salmon and lemon are MFEO (Made For Each Other) and seriously, you can't really serve me any kind of fish without a side of lemon, it just wouldn't be right. Loved this recipe, it was fast and easy, and the fennel is best ever when it is roasted with those crisp little brown edges and that nice bit of lemon to perk it all up and make it sing its own song, as in you could just make a meal out of roasted fennel and lemon. Definitely a repeat, the only question is how often.

If you wonder how the others did this week, click here to follow their post links. You can also find the recipe schedule there for the coming weeks. Next week's recipe theme was chosen by Peggy and is Nuts and Such. Please come and join us at any time, just leave the link to your post that week so that week so we know where to find you.

Note: In our posts, we do not publish the recipes from Ellie Krieger's book as those belong to her, we like to honor that and encourage you to guy her books to get the recipes. You can also find her recipes at her site here, at her weekly newspaper article here, her recipes online here, and at her current tv show site here. We know that you will enjoy using Ellie's books again and again and that you will feel your money was well spent.

December 06, 2016

For the second month, the Dorie's Cookies group participants could chose from one of two recipes to post, one on the first Tuesday and the other being the post for the third Tuesday. I chose to make the Pfefferneusse (Dorie says this is the German word for Pepper Nuts...both plentiful ingredients in this cookie) for the first Tuesday, leaving the Christmas Spice Cookies for the third week. This recipe can be found in the Dorie's Cookies on page 233-235, you can also find it here. Ingredient list: flour, cinnamon, fine sea salt, freshly ground pepper, nutmeg, ground cloves, ground cardamom, dry mustard, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, lemon (or orange), butter, eggs, pecans, confectioner's sugar, chocolate, and espresso (optional). These cookies were easy and fun to make...you don't need a lot of fancy ingredients, or fancy equipment, or fancy time slots set aside. It was fun to use so many spices, just measuring them out and adding them was an aroma treat all its own. I followed the recipe exactly and baked them for the amount of time she specified and declared it all a success, especially since Mark really enjoyed eating them, the combination of lemon and pepper was delicious. Dorie had instructions for making some dusted with confectioner's sugar, some spread with melted chocolate, and then I also opted to make some without either, because, well because sometimes you just want a cookie without a lot of extras. I made a big plateful and then packed three quarters of them away in the freezer for Christmas trays in a couple of weeks. Definitely a repeat. The Tuesdays with Dorie group is now baking from Dorie Greenspan's new book, Dorie's Cookies. The posts will be the first and third Tuesdays of the month and can be linked at the main Tuesdays with Doriewebsite here. You can also find the information on joining in and/or see the posts from those in the group baking along at this location.

December 01, 2016

The 80th recipe I made with the Eating with Ellie group is Grape and Ricotta Pita Pizzas, and can be foundonline here. The theme for the week was chosen by Margaret: It's Pizza Night.

Ingredient list: pita pocket bread, olive oil, ricotta, grapes, honey, lemon, and basil. This week for Pizza Night I decided I wanted to try something new and different and maybe not what one thinks of when one thinks of Pizza Night. I found this recipe online, decided it sounded delicious, and it definitely didn't sound like any pizza I had ever had before, so this was the direction I ended up going for this week. It is absolutely worthy of a repeat, the flavors are fresh, fun and tasty. I particularly liked the grapes/cheese/lemon/honey combination.

If you wonder how the others did this week, click here to follow their post links. You can also find the recipe schedule there for the coming weeks. Next week's recipe theme was chosen by Gaye and is When Life Gives You Lemons. Please come and join us at any time, just leave the link to your post that week so that week so we know where to find you.

Note: In our posts, we do not publish the recipes from Ellie Krieger's book as those belong to her, we like to honor that and encourage you to guy her books to get the recipes. You can also find her recipes at her site here, at her weekly newspaper article here, her recipes online here, and at her current tv show site here. We know that you will enjoy using Ellie's books again and again and that you will feel your money was well spent.

November 17, 2016

The 79th recipe I made with the Eating with Ellie group is Vegetarian Black Bean Chili with Ancho and Orange, and can be foundonline here at Food and Wine. The theme for the week was chosen by Peggy: Chili Today, Hot Tamale.

Ingredient list: canola oil, onion, red pepper, garlic, tomato paste, ancho chili powder, cumin, oregano, cayenne, salt, pepper, canned crushed tomatoes, black beans, water, honey, orange zest, orange juice, garnish with parsley and Greek yogurt, if desired. This week I was all set to make a chicken chili...I had my recipe all lined up, my ingredients all in the house, and somewhere between that and execution of the recipe, I waffled and bagged it in favor of a vegetarian chlii recipe of Ellie's that I found online. I never make vegetarian chili. This is a family of chili lovers, all who like meat in their chili...not just vegetables and definitely not chicken. So I can't really explain what happened exactly but here it is...a perfectly delicious and healthy vegetarian chili. And I didn't even miss the beef. And I didn't have to apologize for using chicken in a chili recipe which around here just might be like having Thanksgiving without the turkey. A really great aspect of this recipe is that you can have everything on hand in your pantry to make this when a trip to the store might be out of the question, like during a snow storm or during an extreme bout of "I'd rather do most anything than go to the grocery store right now." And this chili is good...it tastes meaty with the beans and the flavors are ones I would normally use in chili (well not the orange, but it was very nice). I would definitely make this one again. It's nice to be vegetarian now and again once in awhile sometimes. And, if the others want beef or chicken, it is easy enough to just add that in for them.

If you wonder how the others did this week, click here to follow their post links. You can also find the recipe schedule there for the coming weeks. Next week's recipe theme was chosen by me and is Fowl Weather. Please come and join us at any time, just leave the link to your post that week so that week so we know where to find you.

Note: In our posts, we do not publish the recipes from Ellie Krieger's book as those belong to her, we like to honor that and encourage you to guy her books to get the recipes. You can also find her recipes at her site here, at her weekly newspaper article here, her recipes online here, and at her current tv show site here. We know that you will enjoy using Ellie's books again and again and that you will feel your money was well spent.

November 14, 2016

For the inaugural month, the Dorie's Cookies group participants could chose from one of two recipes to post this first month, one on the first Tuesday and the other being the post for the third Tuesday. I chose to make the Peanut Butter Change-Ups for the first Tuesday, leaving the Chocolate Sandwich Cookies for this week. This recipe can be found in the Dorie's Cookies on page 306, you can also find it here. Ingredient list: flour, cocoa powder (I used the dark variety), butter, sugar, salt, egg white, and vanilla for the cookies; butter, confectioner's sugar, vanilla, and salt for the filling. These cookies were easy to make but take a little time and planning...in other words, you can't really throw them together on a whim as they need a little time to mix, roll, freeze for an hour, cut out, bake, make the filling, spread the filling on the cookies, and then allow them to set up a bit. I actually like recipes like this where I do a little and then go do something else for a bit and then come back and do a little more...this probably says something about my attention span these days. I found the whole process relaxing and satisfying. Mark says they taste like Oreos and maybe even a little better, fresher. Chocolate is not my thing, so I will take his word for it. The only note I made in my book, more to myself than anything wrong with the recipe, is that I should have used clear vanilla to get that bright white creamy center as the dark vanilla added a tint of color. Not a big deal, but next time I'd use the clear. The recipe instructions were spot on for me, I wouldn't change a thing. Missing Alex...Oreos were his favorite cookie, he would have loved these. Definitely repeat worthy. The Tuesdays with Dorie group is now baking from Dorie Greenspan's new book, Dorie's Cookies. The posts will be the first and third Tuesdays of the month and can be linked at the main Tuesdays with Doriewebsite here. You can also find the information on joining in and/or see the posts from those in the group baking along at this location.

November 11, 2016

The 78th recipe I made with the Eating with Ellie group is Lemon-Thyme Orzo Pilaf, and can be found in Ellie Krieger's book Weeknight Wonders, on page 263. The theme for the week was chosen by Gaye: Perfect Pasta.

It has taken me quite awhile to learn to think of orzo as pasta. It looks a lot like rice so I tend to use it where I would use rice and not really as pasta on its own. This week's theme inspired me to select orzo when considering which Ellie pasta dish I wanted to make. The recipe is simple and delicious, I would not hesitate to make it over and over, and the combinations could be endless. The Parmesan melts into the pasta giving it that cheesy goodness that I love with any kind of pasta (sometimes I think it is really the cheese I'm going for and not the actual pasta). The chicken broth gives it a savory flavor as do the shallots and tomatoes. The lemon just makes it all sing. All of the ingredients are simple, the directions are all simple, and it is all weeknight friendly as it takes hardly any time at all. We served it with baked chicken on a bed of lettuce with a drizzle of olive oil and balsamic vinegar and a sprinkling of fresh ground pepper. Make enough for leftovers as it reheats well in the microwave and/or it is also great morphed into a pasta salad...I did a little of each.

If you wonder how the others did this week, click here to follow their post links. You can also find the recipe schedule there for the coming weeks. Next week's recipe theme was chosen by Peggy and is Chili Today, Hot Tamale. Please come and join us at any time, just leave the link to your post that week so that week so we know where to find you.

Note: In our posts, we do not publish the recipes from Ellie Krieger's book as those belong to her, we like to honor that and encourage you to guy her books to get the recipes. You can also find her recipes at her site here, at her weekly newspaper article here, her recipes online here, and at her current tv show site here. We know that you will enjoy using Ellie's books again and again and that you will feel your money was well spent.

November 02, 2016

The 77th recipe I made with the Eating with Ellie group is Roasted Brussels Sprouts, and can be found in Ellie Krieger's book So Easy, on page 188. The theme for the week was chosen by Margaret: Fall Harvest.

Ingredient list: Brussels sprouts, olive oil, salt.

Brussels sprouts always seem to get a bad rap. Whenever they are mentioned most everyone goes, "ewwww" and the discussion comes to an abrupt end. I happen to love Brussels sprouts. I just steam them for a little tiny bit and put a tiny glisten of butter on them and a little tiny bit of salt, and that's all they need, they are just wonderful. Yes, they are...stop that right now. Roasting the Brussels sprouts is new to me, I haven't made them like this before and I have to say these are fantastic. The outer leaves turn sort of papery and crunchy and the inner part is soft but not mushy. I didn't add a thing to them and they were just perfect. Definitely a repeat, and often!

If you wonder how the others did this week, click here to follow their post links. You can also find the recipe schedule there for the coming weeks. Next week's recipe theme was chosen by Gaye and is Perfect Pasta. Please come and join us at any time, just leave the link to your post that week so that week so we know where to find you.

Note: In our posts, we do not publish the recipes from Ellie Krieger's book as those belong to her, we like to honor that and encourage you to guy her books to get the recipes. You can also find her recipes at her site here, at her weekly newspaper article here, her recipes online here, and at her current tv show site here. We know that you will enjoy using Ellie's books again and again and that you will feel your money was well spent.

The 76th recipe I made with the Eating with Ellie group is Chicken, Broccoli, Brown Rice Casserole, and can be found in Ellie Krieger's book You Have It Made, on page 181. The theme for the week was chosen by Margaret: Rice is Nice.

This is a whole lot of ingredients touching in a small space...I'm not that fond of this sort of thing, casseroles in general, but I had chicken and rice and broccoli and it seemed like a good time to try it as I do like all those ingredients. Since I could see all the ingredients in the recipe, I figured I could separate them all and eat them that way. And that worked. I did like the flavor of the lemon and the wine in the mix. Other than that, it was kind of bland and I'm not really sure how I would jazz that up. The little bit of cheese melted on the top was nice. Would I make this one again? Probably not, not the fault of the recipe, just that I'm not all that fond of casseroles in general...but once in awhile one should make one just to see if that's changed. It hasn't. That, however, doesn't mean you won't like it. :-)

If you wonder how the others did this week, click here to follow their post links. You can also find the recipe schedule there for the coming weeks. Next week's recipe theme was chosen by Gaye and is Perfect Pasta. Please come and join us at any time, just leave the link to your post that week so that week so we know where to find you.

Note: In our posts, we do not publish the recipes from Ellie Krieger's book as those belong to her, we like to honor that and encourage you to guy her books to get the recipes. You can also find her recipes at her site here, at her weekly newspaper article here, her recipes online here, and at her current tv show site here. We know that you will enjoy using Ellie's books again and again and that you will feel your money was well spent.

The 75th recipe I made with the Eating with Ellie group is Cheeseburger-Stuffed Twice-Baked Potatoes, and can be found in Ellie Krieger's book You Have It Made, on page 132. The theme for the week was chosen by me: This Spud's for You.

The photo of this recipe in the book looked so inviting and delicious for dinner. I made it just like she said and had great success...okay, in my world broccoli should not be touching anything else too much so I didn't put it in the mix but instead served it on the side, which was just wonderful, but you can mix yours up if you like, I'm sure you will enjoy that. Other than that, I made it all as she directed. it was and easy and enjoyable dinner. Depending on the size of your potatoes, one half might be plenty for one person, you will know as you are making it.

If you wonder how the others did this week, click here to follow their post links. You can also find the recipe schedule there for the coming weeks. Next week's recipe theme was chosen by Gaye and is Perfect Pasta. Please come and join us at any time, just leave the link to your post that week so that week so we know where to find you.

Note: In our posts, we do not publish the recipes from Ellie Krieger's book as those belong to her, we like to honor that and encourage you to guy her books to get the recipes. You can also find her recipes at her site here, at her weekly newspaper article here, her recipes online here, and at her current tv show site here. We know that you will enjoy using Ellie's books again and again and that you will feel your money was well spent.

Sometimes you just want an extra special treat that makes you think you had something really decadent and tasty but you know that you really should have something healthy instead. This would describe the Peach Pie Smoothie, it tastes very much like peach pie and gives you the satisfaction of maybe just having had a nice slice of peach pie, but in fact it is healthy and guilt-free. A winning combination. It goes together much faster than a peach pie for sure. Definitely a repeat.

If you wonder how the others did this week, click here to follow their post links. You can also find the recipe schedule there for the coming weeks. Next week's recipe theme was chosen by Gaye and is Perfect Pasta. Please come and join us at any time, just leave the link to your post that week so that week so we know where to find you.

Note: In our posts, we do not publish the recipes from Ellie Krieger's book as those belong to her, we like to honor that and encourage you to guy her books to get the recipes. You can also find her recipes at her site here, at her weekly newspaper article here, her recipes online here, and at her current tv show site here. We know that you will enjoy using Ellie's books again and again and that you will feel your money was well spent.

The 73rd recipe I made with the Eating with Ellie group is Halibut Nicoise in Foil Packets, and can be found in Ellie Krieger's book Weeknight Wonders, on page 190. The theme for the week was chosen by Margaret: One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish.

I am a fan of cooking in foil...well, let me change that to read cooking in parchment paper, which is like cooking in foil, but I just happen to prefer parchment paper over foil. I always think the foil part is going to react badly with any acid in the food, with parchment paper you don't have to worry about it. Cooking in parchment lets you assemble everything ahead of time and simply place it on a tray and into the oven when it is time to bake it for dinner. Cleanup is easy, just toss the paper into the trash.

This is a wonderful recipe...I loved everything about it, the flavors, the combination of ingredients, and the end result of having a lovely baked fish with vegetables all ready to eat in one small packet. Definitely a repeat. Often.

If you wonder how the others did this week, click here to follow their post links. You can also find the recipe schedule there for the coming weeks. Next week's recipe theme was chosen by Gaye and is Perfect Pasta. Please come and join us at any time, just leave the link to your post that week so that week so we know where to find you.

Note: In our posts, we do not publish the recipes from Ellie Krieger's book as those belong to her, we like to honor that and encourage you to guy her books to get the recipes. You can also find her recipes at her site here, at her weekly newspaper article here, her recipes online here, and at her current tv show site here. We know that you will enjoy using Ellie's books again and again and that you will feel your money was well spent.

November 01, 2016

Beginning this week, the Tuesdays with Dorie group is now baking from Dorie Greenspan's new book, Dorie's Cookies (which was just released last month). The group posts for this will be the first and third Tuesdays of the month and can be linked at the main Tuesdays with Doriewebsite here. You can also find the information on joining in and/or see the posts from those in the group baking along at this location. Cookies are a good fit for us, even with it just being the two of us at home these days. They are always a welcome snack, can be frozen for later use, or easily given away to cookie-loving recipients. Cookies are easily transportable, definitely making things much more convenient when you are looking for a home for extra baked goods. The group could chose from one of two recipes to post this week, leaving the other recipe for the post on the third Tuesday. I chose to make the Peanut Butter Change-Ups. This recipe was posted in the Washington Post so you can access that here and try them for yourself while you wait for your own copy of the book to arrive. Ingredient list: flour, baking powder, nutmeg, peanut butter, butter, salt, sugar, brown sugar, eggs, and peanuts. The cookies were easy to make, used common pantry ingredients, and were full of wonderful peanut-y goodness. I would not hesitate to make these again. Definitely repeat worthy. Wonder what the others thought? You can check it out here.

Purchase a copy of Dorie Greenspan's Dorie's Cookies and bake along with the group or just bake on your own. Dorie's books are always wonderfully written and illustrated, and you will have 300 cookie recipes at your fingertips. :-)

August 18, 2016

The 72nd recipe I made with the Eating with Ellie group isChicory Salad with Green Apple, Cranberries and Blue Cheese, and can be found in Ellie Krieger's book Weeknight Wonders, on page 37. The theme for the week was chosen by me:Savvy Salads.

I made this salad twice, once as specified, and once adding shredded chicken to it to make it a more complete meal, both times absolutely delicious, light, and refreshing. We eat a lot of salad, actually we eat salad every single day, so it is nice to have just some simple and tasty change ups in the salad realm to keep it interesting. This is a very good one, crunchy and sweet with the apple and cranberries which compliments the creamy tang of the blue cheese. Definitely one to repeat often.

If you wonder how the others did this week, click here to follow their post links. You can also find the recipe schedule there for the coming weeks. Next week's recipe theme was chosen by Margaret and is One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish. Please come and join us at any time, just leave the link to your post that week so that week so we know where to find you.

Note: In our posts, we do not publish the recipes from Ellie Krieger's book as those belong to her, we like to honor that and encourage you to guy her books to get the recipes. You can also find her recipes at her site here, at her weekly newspaper article here, her recipes online here, and at her current tv show site here. We know that you will enjoy using Ellie's books again and again and that you will feel your money was well spent.

August 17, 2016

My 147th recipe with the Wednesday with Donna Hay group is Roasted Apple and Quince Pork Cutlets, was chosen for the theme, Pork on Your Fork, and is found in Donna Hay's book Simple Dinners on page 130.

These sheet pan dinners that DH has been promoting in her books are a really great way to make dinner. You simply put a piece of parchment paper on a sheet pan and assemble your items on it, put it in the oven, bake it for the time specified, and dinner is ready...cleanup is just a matter of tossing the parchment paper and wiping up any spills on the sheet pan. I have been making these more often these days and loving them.

With this pork cutlet, I halved a sweet potato to roast along side and added some broccoli as well. It was all finished baking at 425 degrees within 15 minutes. We both enjoyed the flavors with the pork, that little bit of quince paste is nice and complimented the apple and oregano. I am not very good with pork chops, when I cook them on the stovetop I get them a little too done and they come out dry more often than not. With this method, the pork stays nice and moist. This is definitely a repeat.

Wonder what the others made? You can find that by clicking here. Next week's theme is Where's the Beef? Join us and leave a link to your post at the website, no commitment required. NOTE: In our posts, we do not publish the recipes from Donna Hay's books as those belong to her, we like to honor that and encourage you to buy her books to get the recipes. There are also many of her recipes at her site here. We know you will enjoy using Donna's books again and again as we all do and that your money will be well spent. :-)